


Report on the death of Bluebeard's first wife

by Aaymeirah



Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, La Barbe bleue | Bluebeard - Charles Perrault
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 2, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-12 12:44:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17467793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaymeirah/pseuds/Aaymeirah
Summary: Jeanette has long been rescued from her murderous husband. Stories grow as stories are wont to do, however a curious few have dedicated themselves to uncovering the stories of Barbe-Bleu's previous wives. Here follows a copy of the first report from this collective, the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Barbe-Bleu's first wife, Louis DesLarmes.





	Report on the death of Bluebeard's first wife

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elf (Elfwreck)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfwreck/gifts).



The tale of Barbe-Bleu, the former French noble who once lived in the now abandoned manor just outside of the town was well know. The tales, now grown all out of proportion from their original telling, as stories are wont to do, agreed on a few major points. Barbe-Bleu had been a serial wife murderer, looking for his version of a perfect wife, never finding it. Barbe-Bleu had been married to seven women before Jeanette, whose brothers saved her from the fate that her predecessors suffered. Barbe-Bleu was exceedingly ugly, with brilliant blue hair.

When given a story, it is easy to accept it, not look any further. But a curious few have taken it upon themselves to document not just the events recounted by Jeanette, but to uncover the stories of those who were not so lucky as Jeanette. Those who spent years rotting in a locked cellar, congealing blood renewed by the blackguard who used it in an attempt to cure his ugliness. 

But I digress. As I have the neatest penmanship, my colleagues have prevailed upon me to be the record keeper for their findings. We know that when each wife opened the door that Barbe-Bleu forbade them to, he would rage and kill them. But what provoked him to kill his first wife? (There being no prior bodies in the cellar for her to find.)  
The answers my colleagues discovered were- disturbing, and though I intended to write completely without bias, impassionate in my records, I shy from putting the details in writing, for it seems to me that everything suddenly becomes real. Not just a twisted story told during a long winter’s night to frighten children into obedience. Forgive me for I wander off topic. 

Her name was Louis DesLarmes. An apt name. Barbe-Bleu was young and rich, facts that more than made up for his astonishing ugliness, as he was well aware. Barbe-Bleu could have had his pick of the eligible maidens, but for reasons unknown, picked Louis DesLarmes, daughter of a seamstress to be his wife. Her sister, old now, with memory wandering says that they, her family, were all so happy. While after each courting call, her family became more and more enamored of the thought of a daughter marrying a rich fils-du-sang, Louise became more and more morose. 

Ten years ago, when Barbe-Bleu killed his first wife, five servants were in his employ. Of them, Luc Bisset, was willing to tell us about his time as Barbe-Bleu’s valet after some persuasion.

“Louis was a lovely girl. She was kind and curious, though obviously unhappy. After a few weeks, she was listless! And she shied away from Barbe-Bleu whenever he returned from one of his long business trips. 

“It was not two months after Barbe-Bleu’s marriage that there was a horrible argument. He dismissed me early, before I had even drawn up a bath! I couldn’t hear anything clear. Louis stormed out of the room shortly after. More alive and animated than she had ever been. Her dress was torn at the sleeve, I went to notify her maid.

“That was the last I ever saw of Louis DesLarmes. Barbe-Bleu dismissed me two days later. Cast me out into the streets.”

So we knew that she was unhappy, and that the two fought. Motivation. Yet another colleague went to talk to the grave digger. He would have seen all the bodies as he put them in their joint tomb. His quote follows.

“There wasn’t much of Louis DesLarmes monsieu. Just some leathery skin stretched out over crumbling bones. Now, I’m just a simple grave digger, not a constable, but if you’re looking for how she died, I’d say a crushed skull. The back of the skull was caved in you see.”

At that point, it appeared that we had our story. Louis angers Barbe-Bleu, Barbe-Bleu hits her and accidentally crushes her skull. Frightened, he locks her body in the cellar and dismisses all servants who could tell the tale. 

I wish we had stopped there. But, not to be outdone in discovering information by my peers, I have done my own research. Among Barbe-Beu’s papers, I found a small, much worn kid-skin bond book. "La beauté réparatrice de Gillan, 50 façons de préserver la jeunesse et de retrouver la beauté." Such books were becoming more common, as a greater percentage of our population learns to read. But this was not your average book of natural hair powders and crushed scents, this was a grimoire of blood magic. The practices and potions described therein shall never be spread by my writings, however, the notion that someone could believe they would work is greater evidence to Barbe-Bleu’s madness. 

In brief, a dog-eared page showed a ritual for to give beauty to even the ugliest of people. It required the sacrifice of a woman on the third of a month with three Sundays and a mixture of various body parts to be drunk upside down. 

Ridiculous. Nevertheless, my colleagues and I have agreed that this was the purpose of his many murders, and that these are the true facts surrounding the death of his first wife, Louis DesLarmes. 

Isabelle du plume, chronicler for the curious collective. First Draft.

**Author's Note:**

> Fils-du-sang: Literally, son-of-blood. Colloquialism for french males of the nobility.
> 
> Barbe-Bleu: Bluebeard
> 
> DesLarmes: Literally, of tears.
> 
> Monsieu: Literally, my Lord, nowadays french equivalent to Mister.
> 
> La beauté réparatrice de Gillan, 50 façons de préserver la jeunesse et de retrouver la beauté, Translation: The restorative beauty of Gillan, 50 ways to preserve youth and regain beauty


End file.
